The Associated Press reported March 30 that the Index, which looks at 28 measures of child well-being, found that, overall, risk-taking has been declining since 1993. For example, recent binge drinking among high-school seniors has fallen from 36.9 percent in 1975 to 29.2 percent in 2004. Fewer teens are becoming parents, and the youth crime rate has fallen dramatically over the last decade.

"Maybe we have the next 'greatest generation' coming along here," said Jeffrey Butts, director of the youth justice program at the Urban Institute. Butts also credited parents, many of whom saw the dark side of drug use in the 1970s and 1980s, for helping their kids avoid drugs. "I think it's not so much a sign of policymaking as it is a fundamental cultural shift," Butts added.

The news was not all good, however: the obesity rate among teens has tripled since 1975, school test scores have not improved much, and more kids are living in single-parent households and in poverty.

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